[David Aldrich <David.Aldrich@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Patrick

Thanks again.  I really appreciate having someone to discuss this with.  I will be writing driver code for the test device.

>  Are you testing performance or just functionality?

I think we will be able to restrict our testing to functional testing, but no doubt will have to try some performance/load tests.

I think the issue for me now is whether I will need some capture facility on the NIC, even for functional testing.  I guess that a typical server NIC won't have such capability.  But I see that there are more specialist cards (perhaps from companies such as Myricom?) that provide buffering.

Thanks for your comments about Direct Attach cables.  I guess I don't need to worry about whether they are fibre or copper.

Best regards

David